Thunderbird Club

[wolfkeller]

Paint is finally done. Dry a few days and then sand and clear coat before heading out to Hollywood

 

[Korladis]

Just enough.

Hard to quantify that. I had a 1987 Charvel 2B in east county San Diego, where it's pretty dang dry. Never noticed any weather damage at all. Now I have a 1988 Charvel 4B (basically an extra control hole for a toggle switch vs the 2B) in Ken-tuh-kee where it's so humid year round that wood rusts. Again, no apparent weather damage. With proper finish work, they're pretty much impervious to weather under normal conditions.

Well, it's just that I got a dehumidifier to starve out the mold and mildew in my basement apartment. So I'm wondering if 35% is too low.

 

[DerekW]

35 is about the minimum I'd recommend. I sell flooring, and with hardwood, the recommended (ideal) range is 35-45% relative humidity in order to keep the floor stable and without issues.
It must be running pretty steady to keep at 35. If you let it go up to 45 even, I wouldn't expect any mold issues.

 

[TBird1958]

Paint is finally done. Dry a few days and then sand and clear coat before heading out to HollywoodView attachment 911672 View attachment 911670

I only get to hit the like button once, I'm quoting because this is AWESOME!

 

[Korladis]

35 is about the minimum I'd recommend. I sell flooring, and with hardwood, the recommended (ideal) range is 35-45% relative humidity in order to keep the floor stable and without issues.
It must be running pretty steady to keep at 35. If you let it go up to 45 even, I wouldn't expect any mold issues.

Thanks. I ran it at the lowest it goes to (35%) for a while to kill the existing mold and get the place completely dry. I'll probably ease it back up to 40%.

 

[DerekW]

Paint is finally done. Dry a few days and then sand and clear coat before heading out to HollywoodView attachment 911672 View attachment 911670

You must have the biggest tone pot ever! Lol

How are you going to address the big hole there?

 

[ThaCoast]

You must have the biggest tone pot ever! Lol

How are you going to address the big hole there?

It's the stratocaster jack plate that goes there. Simple volume for both pickups just like Sixx's Hamers at the time (although they did have a tone control i believe or individual volumes for both pickups)

 

[Nocturnal]

It's the stratocaster jack plate that goes there. Simple volume for both pickups just like Sixx's Hamers at the time (although they did have a tone control i believe or individual volumes for both pickups)

My black Hamer Bird has 2 volumes and no tone control and the strat type jack. My sunburst one is laid out the same as my Blitz; vol, vol, tone with the input on the end like on a Gibson. The burst was a special order for someone and was laid out different than the normal FBIV's. I do think there were some of the standard FBIV's that had a tone control, but I could be wrong about that.

 

[ThaCoast]

Parts have been ordered last night & my thunderbird will be the first one finished this fall! Can't wait to play it - the thunderous tone from 3 pickups all wired to a kill, Solid high mass contact bridge & bigger body than my epiphone bird will make this one my #1 for a while. Hopefully i can also finish the coffin case so i'm able to bring it out to rehearsals & gigs!

 

[takeout]

Welcome home again!

I don't know why they do that, but I have a couple guesses. Both have to do with manufacturing processes. It could be that those pick-up dimensions have changed to something slimmer. Assembly line instruments are cut on CNC machines for accuracy and production speed. The template has probably not been changed in quite a while. it could also be to allowas much wiggle room as possible in manufacturing so that they don't have to send it back to be cut deeper if something doesn't fit right, but that seems less likely to me. At any rate, those are complete speculation on my part.

The Gibson Brands folks really should have a TBird rep assigned to monitor this group for just such questions. Always seem to be behind the curve.

Except as far as I can tell, the TB Pluses are the deepest T-Bird pickups yet. Just weird. Everything else out of the box was set up perfectly.

 

[wolfkeller]

Yes, it will have a strat jack and single vol. Just how Sixx's was. I am using emg 35p +J and a Duff2 mimi Haz preamp just like my skull bass.

 

[wolfkeller]

Clear coated and curing

 

[Klondike]

Paint is finally done. Dry a few days and then sand and clear coat before heading out to HollywoodView attachment 911672 View attachment 911670

Wolfie that Bird is gonna be sick!

 

[wolfkeller]

Wolfie that Bird is gonna be sick!

Thanks man! It's really cool cuz when I was like 13 I tried to build this same bass out of plywood and a 2x4. Didn't go well. Now, I did it all little better and I'll use it on stage.

 

[TBird1958]

That's looking fantastic!

 

[Gaolee]

With the clear on it, it really pops. I'm really looking forward to seeing what it looks like in action. That thing is a pure extrovert!

 

[wolfkeller]

Once it's wet sanded, buffed and polished it will be better. I'll be using it end of August for a festival show.

 

[hillerup]

Clear coated and curing View attachment 912217 View attachment 912218

Nice work!

Did you use a Dillon for the project?

 

[hillerup]

Clear coated and curing View attachment 912217 View attachment 912218

You're not going for P/J pickups as on Nikki's bass...?

 

[ThaCoast]

You're not going for P/J pickups as on Nikki's bass...?

he's got the equivalent in emg 35 soapbars the P & the J, possibly giving a similar tone